First bill from Powergen after 3 years

zouganelis

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum, so please be nice

After more than 3 years of moving into a new flat as a tennant, today I have received the first-ever electricity bill from Powergen. Back in March 2004 when I had moved in, I called them a couple of times to open an account with them (or rather to transfer my account from the previous property) so I gave them my name, account number etc but they said they didn't know the serial number of the flat's meter! They said they'd get back to me as soon as they've sorted it out.

Today I got the first bill in the post for £966 covering the period April 2005-April 2007, which is fair since energy companies cannot seek payment for longer than 2 years (which is nice). I phoned them up to set up a payment plan etc and they said they can spread the cost over 24 months (which is again fair). I've asked them for a discount but they refused since they have only charged me for the past 2 years (for which they are obliged to do so anyways). I also offered to pay the full amount in one payment (not sure where to find the money but always worth it knowing all the options!) and they said it wouldn't make any difference, still no discount.

Now the bit that bothers me a bit is the price /kWh on the bill. For the period between April 2005 and January 2007 the price per kWh was:

Over a total of 10272kWh, 1387kWh @ 9.49 pence and 8885kWh @ 7.44 pence, while for the period between January 2007 and now, I am being charged at 16.77p and 9.20p (for the high and low "rate" respectively).

Can you please suggest if these numbers look right to you, given that over the last 3 years Powergen have increased their prices by more than 35%?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Regards,
Zouga

Gal

Prices seem fine to me - There was a price rise in August 2005 as well I believe, March 2006 and August 2006.

The prices that you say are for now appear to be inline with the current standard prices. Which are decreasing at the end of this month.

Why would you expect a discount? You have a years worth of free electric and you mentioned that you only called at the beginning what about the other 35 months between you moving in and now?

Works both ways they could have asked for payment in full and not spread the money if they wanted to.

BritishGasWorker

zouganelis wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum, so please be nice

After more than 3 years of moving into a new flat as a tennant, today I have received the first-ever electricity bill from Powergen. Back in March 2004 when I had moved in, I called them a couple of times to open an account with them (or rather to transfer my account from the previous property) so I gave them my name, account number etc but they said they didn't know the serial number of the flat's meter! They said they'd get back to me as soon as they've sorted it out.

Today I got the first bill in the post for £966 covering the period April 2005-April 2007, which is fair since energy companies cannot seek payment for longer than 2 years (which is nice). I phoned them up to set up a payment plan etc and they said they can spread the cost over 24 months (which is again fair). I've asked them for a discount but they refused since they have only charged me for the past 2 years (for which they are obliged to do so anyways). I also offered to pay the full amount in one payment (not sure where to find the money but always worth it knowing all the options!) and they said it wouldn't make any difference, still no discount.

Now the bit that bothers me a bit is the price /kWh on the bill. For the period between April 2005 and January 2007 the price per kWh was:

Over a total of 10272kWh, 1387kWh @ 9.49 pence and 8885kWh @ 7.44 pence, while for the period between January 2007 and now, I am being charged at 16.77p and 9.20p (for the high and low "rate" respectively).

Can you please suggest if these numbers look right to you, given that over the last 3 years Powergen have increased their prices by more than 35%?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Regards,
Zouga

Hi ...

the bill is fine..and you have got away without paying for alot of your consumption...you would not get a discount from British Gas on this either since you have not been billed for such a long periode of time..and they are offering to set up a 24 month payment scheme...interest free....you are lucky take it whilst the offer is there

zouganelis

Thank you both for your replies.

I am not complaining about having to pay for the electricity I've used, I was just trying to make sure they've given me a fair deal. After all, it was not my fault. Thay clearly said that they had mixed up the cables and the meters and didn't have a clue which was my meter and that they would contact me once they had rectified the problem. The same applies to more than 100 apartments in the same block and I imagine they will get a bill pretty soon too. Mind you, my neighbour left his apartment only beacuse he was getting huge bills (one of the few apartments which received bills from the beginning) and he was living alone in a small 1-bed apartment. One day he showed me his alleged meter which was still counting while he had his mains master switch off! Go figure...anyways, I am relieved that the bill finally came through as I am planning to move out to a semi-detached house in the summer and I was afraid there would be complications with the management agency when it would be the time to show them paid bills before I can claim my deposit back.

Tiger_greeneyes

I've just got a bill from Powergen for two months electricity supply - and they're charging me over £315 - which I'm contesting, naturally.

Considering they are telling me it costs £27 per week to run a standard fridge/freezer, it looks like you've got off lightly zouganelis

Deleerious

zouganelis wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum, so please be nice

After more than 3 years of moving into a new flat as a tennant, today I have received the first-ever electricity bill from Powergen. Back in March 2004 when I had moved in, I called them a couple of times to open an account with them (or rather to transfer my account from the previous property) so I gave them my name, account number etc but they said they didn't know the serial number of the flat's meter! They said they'd get back to me as soon as they've sorted it out...

Zouga,

Sounds like a situation i'm going to shortly have. I've been living in a new flat for 12 months now and only realised this week Powergen aren't billing me for my gas. I too gave them all my details when i moved in and probably stupidly expected them to set up my gas / elec.

The only thing i could suggest is you confirm that the dates you are being billed from are correct.

I mean, how much elec / gas did the builders use? Are you being billed for this? That happened with me. I got a bill for £150.00 for previous useage. Before i could even fight it one of the other residents had already whinged to the housing agency and it had been sorted.

If it's correct and it's 24 months @ 0% then again i'd snap it up.

Deleerious

Gal

No longer relevant.

skim

I didn't get a bill for over 9 years from Powergen - when it did come they reckoned it would be just over £1300 but I said this was unfair as I called them many times when I moved in & because they couldn't be bothered to bill me why should I keep phoning up asking to be billed.

I got haggled them down to £900 to be paid over 3 years. This is going back about 5 years now before the 2 year rule came in.

Gal

Bit extreme that - 9 Years - £1300 is pretty low usage though - Looks like you had a bit of a result there.

zouganelis

Wow, £900 for 9 years of electricity works out about £8.50, this is called a deal!!! I got the 24-month payment plan after all so from now on I will be paying £95/month including my current estimated consumption which isn't really bad to be honest.

Deleerious: I checked the reading when I moved in and it was like 150kWh registered on the meter and I am being billed from 6886kWh onwards, so I'm saving about 6700kWh, that's more than £500 with the older price tariff or about £750 with the new tariffs!

Thank you all for your input.